WSJ: DEA Received Proposal to Spy Near Gun Shows

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) received a proposal to collect license plate numbers around gun shows in 2009, but the idea was rejected before it got off the ground, according to a new report.The Wall Street Journal reports the 2009 proposal came from a federal agent. It was part of a larger program that has been collecting Americans' license plate numbers and driving records. The Journal reported on that story Monday.

The idea to spy on vehicles around gun shows appeared in an e-mail, according to the Journal. A bundle of documents related to the license-plate spying program was obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union and reviewed by the Journal.

"The proposal in the email was only a suggestion. It was never authorized by DEA, and the idea under discussion in the email was never launched," DEA administrator Michele Leonhart said in the Journal story.

The National Rifle Association (NRA), on the other hand, is investigating whether or not the government targeted gun owners.

The NRA is "looking into this to see if gun owners were improperly targeted, and has no further comment until we have all the facts," spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told the Journal.

Monday's report showed the DEA has been working with local, state, and other federal law enforcement authorities to use a system of highway cameras to build a massive database of license plate numbers and driver information like where cars are going and when.

The program was initially designed to help in the war on drugs by using the information to seize money, vehicles, and other pieces of the drug war, but it has expanded in size and scope. Now it is being used to catch other criminals, ranging from murderers and rapists to kidnapping suspects, reports the Journal.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) received a proposal to collect license plate numbers around gun shows in 2009, but the idea was rejected before it got off the ground, according to a new report.The Wall Street Journal reports the 2009 proposal came from a federal...